Computer-aided design (CAD) is a computer technology that designs a product and documents the design's process. CAD may facilitate the manufacturing process by transferring detailed diagrams of a product’s materials, processes, tolerances and dimensions with specific conventions for the product in question.

It can be used to produce either two-dimensional or three-dimensional diagrams, which can then when rotated to be viewed from any angle, even from the inside looking out. A special printer or plotter is usually required for printing professional design renderings.

AutoCAD is a commercial software application for 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting and is used across a wide range of industries, by architects, project managers, engineers, graphic designers, and many other professionals.